As an advocate fighting for society’s most vulnerable people, political activist Mercedes Fulbright shares her story about the legacy trauma leaves as she unpacks her shame and Imposter Syndrome. In a heartfelt, honest talk at TEDxSMUWomen, she reveals how the shift in perception has shaped and influenced her work in dismantling systems of oppression.

You got dumped. You didn’t get your dream job. You watched your entire village burn to the ground. People heal from the smallest to largest assaults on their humanity every day, and when we look at the basic components for how people heal, we realize so can we.

What is a #sidehustle and why do over 44 million Americans have one? In this enlightening talk, Liz Navarro answers these questions and shares side hustle stories from one of the trend’s largest demographics: Millennial women. She provides optimistic tactics to harness the hustle in the workforce and in ourselves.

The choices we make and events we experience don’t necessarily build a straight and stable bridge. Life is more like a rope bridge-you see the path and the other side, but getting there is a wobbly, thrilling and unexpected journey. Embrace the chaos!

For the first time in history, women have more parents to care for than children. A record number of women are leaving the workforce to care for aging parents, yet few have a financial plan or know what to expect. How can we better plan for the inevitable?

I would like to pose the question, what if you knew the exact time of your death? How would you change the blueprint of your life? So many of us procrastinate achieving things in life, becoming who we want to be because we imagine we have more time to accomplish these things. What if that [...]

We now have technology that can design a human, and even have a gorilla give birth to a human baby. Ruan J. Meintjes, the Chief Operating Officer of the Frisco Institute for Reproductive Medicine, shares stories from the field and asks the question: now that we have the technology, how ought we to use its [...]

Pay close attention. Leadership lessons are everywhere – in leaps of faith, in difficult relationships, in both trials and triumphs. Watch as Tara Jaye Frank shares her personal leadership journey, and tells us how a deeper sense of purpose fueled her professional future. (or “can fuel your professional future).

Have you ever had good intentions to carry out a task or idea, but yet something always stops you from making it to completion? In my talk, I want to show you exactly what it’ll take to shift that focus and take action towards these ideals.

Destiny Rose Murphy is addicted to cocaine, and so are you. When we make choices about what to eat, we’re making choices that wildly affect how long we’re going to live, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Destiny Rose explains how you can make dietary choices better with the help of some Ancient Greek philosophy: [...]

What do you want to be when you grow up? Not sure yet, still thinking? Arman Razaali encourages you to rethink the question and discover what you truly strive for every day, success, and how to attain it.

Can spoken word spark a light to unmotivated students? A bilingual teacher narrates her story of how poetry influenced her life and approach to teaching. Through spoken word, she was able to connect with at-risk students who found an outlet for their feelings through words.

Bridge the Gap presents the story of Peter and the Wolf. In this classic tale, composer Sergei Prokofiev brings the characters to life by representing each with a different musical instrument: the bird by the flute, the duck by the oboe, the cat by the clarinet, the grandfather by the bassoon, the wolf by the [...]

Communication is the most important skill for personal and professional success. In this talk, Danish Dhamani discusses how overcoming your fear of public speaking is key to leading a fulfilling life and unlocking your true potential.

When mistaken for an elementary school student in seventh grade, Mary Orsak became self-conscious of her height and her age. However, Mary overcame these anxieties and found her own voice after starting her own nonprofit, Story Power Inc.

This TEDx talk is about the perpetuation of stereotypes through the media, specifically in the case of young African-American men. As young black men in America, we often have to face debilitating misconceptions and stereotypes, and in this talk, these issues are heavily discussed, emphasizing the opportunity for success for everyone with the right hard [...]

With the right motivation and opportunity every student can create their best reality. Learn how education, self-motivation, personal responsibility and active engagement in school and community can unlock opportunities for maximizing your potential…no matter your background.

We’re in the midst of an extinction crisis, losing wildlife species at extraordinary rates. It’s going to take all of us, working together to save species from extinction and create a better world for animals here and around the globe. You can help in big ways and small, through your daily actions and decisions, even [...]

Life is everywhere, but not all life is thriving. Many plants and wildlife are on the brink of extinction, including the Blackland Prairie eco-region. Trevor Burke is working to protect this critically endangered environment and passionately encourages us to preserve our world for future generations.

No matter your age, gender, economic status or where you come from; everyone will encounter obstacles and hurdles that will cause you to make two decisions 1.) Are you going to decide to allow your obstacles or Red Sea to take you under? 2.) Are you going to choose to stay above the waters so [...]

Science confirms we have a “second brain,” and David Vobora believes accessing it will lead you to your highest calling. Watch Retired NFL-Linebacker David Vobora use science to prove the validity of the stomach’s affect on human behavior. He takes you through a series of stories that better explain how trusting his gut led him [...]

Harnessing his observation of an evolving trend in medicine, Michael F. Weisberg, M.D. makes the impassioned case of why it’s important to have an advocate with you at the hospital. Dr. Weisberg illuminates the silent yet strong shift that has occurred over the past decade – many doctors are no longer treating their patients at [...]

You may have been taught that asking for more than you “need” is selfish, bad manners or greedy. The truth is – asking outrageously actually creates relationships and builds communities of people who want you to succeed. When she practiced law, Linda Swindling strongly negotiated for others but rarely asked for what she needed or [...]

How do humans make sense of the world? Look at how we shape it. The shape of shelters, sacred sites, social systems reveals how a culture sees the world. Read the past and glimpse the future by watching when shapes shift. Lois Farfel Stark is an Emmy awarded documentary filmmaker, who covered countries in transition [...]

Jason Roberts and his neighbors broke some ordinances and took their street back. Then they published a fake website to get the streetcar back. Then Jason took the show on the road, traveling the world and addressing our desires for places we love, finding the beauty in our everyday, creating romance in unexpected places, and [...]

Everyone knows everything about homes except what is most important: homes that make us happy. We instead look for a list of amenities, a set of statistics, cosmetic preferences or the best school district, rather than the characteristics that will make us happy in a home every day. Douglas Newby’s passion for and success in [...]

Neuroscientist and Psychologist Daniel Krawczyk asks the intriguing question “why do we collect things”. This talk is about the story of our collecting tendencies and provides a glimpse into how the brain functions and enables the fascinating compulsion, hobby, and lifestyle we know as collecting. Daniel Krawczyk is the Deputy Director of the Center for [...]

Performance on stage and off has the power to develop and grow lives. Antoine Joyce shares how performance saved his life from poverty and how he now uses the transformative power of performance in after-school development programs in Dallas. Antoine Joyce has served as the City Leader of the All Stars Project of Dallas, the [...]

Benjamin Franklin was America’s greatest scholar, philosopher, and scientist. And during one of the most crucial moments in our country’s history, Franklin showed up in Paris wearing a goofy fur-cap on his head. In doing so, he may have set a terrible precedent for American scholars who continually play the fool in order to make [...]

Chris Garcia discusses his life long fascination with clocks and how through his curiosity and passion for art, science and engineering, he was able to create a new way of showing time. Chris Garcia has a BS in Physics, works in Information Technology and has been inventing, designing and building clocks since 2003. To see [...]

Using real-world examples taken from her experiences as a mom, an event planner, and founder of a non-profit, Paige Chenault challenges her listeners to initiate JOY. It isn’t an accident – JOY happens when you show up. It happens when you make yourself part of a community. And it happens when you commit to something [...]

Tracing the rate of American innovation over the last 100 years leaves one noticing that somehow K-12 Education got left off the bus. This linguistically engaging and humorous education policy poetic performance by writer, educator, and designer Thom Browne, combines spoken word, American history, and vivid imagery to paint a comparative timeline of K-12 Education [...]

Fiddling has evolved from ancient Celtic origins like a language, resulting in distinct American “dialects” such as Bluegrass and continues to evolve to this day. June Blount is a modern fiddle duo featuring a 6-time fiddle champion/Killdares fiddler & classically trained violinist with a combined 30+ years experience performing private events and concerts. www.juneblount.com

How a gambler saw the world, sought information from odd places and was able to win when everything was at stake. Norman Beck is a man who wears many hats. He is a speaker, writer, and magician when not working full time at SCA promotions in Dallas, where he is Vice President of claims and [...]

During a cross country sign buying trip in July of 2014, Willie bought a homeless sign from Eddie Dunn in Philadelphia, and their conversation was featured in the documentary SIGNS OF HUMANITY. At the time Eddie was using heroin and living under a bridge. In February of 2016, after a year and a half of [...]

The path towards illuminating the world begins with a four-step process: First, recognize that you are ILL—unwavering confidence in yourself, an unshakable belief that you are worthy of being listened to; second, u, manipulate ideas naturally—brainstorm freely, consider unconventional ways of employing your ideas in order to accomplish tasks; third, ATtempt, ATtempt, ATtempt—eagerly attempt those [...]

Jonathan Cope says music is a universal language that is used to communicate, empower and heal others. Cope was inspired through music and technology, and encourages his audience to pursue their passions while making a difference in the lives of others. Jonathan is a composer from Dallas, Texas, who writes a variety of classical, inspirational [...]

Encouraging more young women to run for political office. At the rate we are going, it will take 100 years to reach gender parity in elected positions across the United States. Margo McClinton Stoglin, Texas State Director. Margo comes to IGNITE from a long career in the non-profit and educational sectors, with experience in operations, [...]

There is POWER in the public/private partnership in public education. It’s a fundamental shift in how we educate our children, and that’s what we’re doing at the Young Women’s Preparatory Network. Our Network supports 8 PUBLIC all-girls schools in Texas with PRIVATE enhancement dollars strategically placed in three key areas to prepare our girls to [...]

Every 9 seconds in this country a woman is assaulted by someone who says he loves her, by someone who says its her fault, and by someone who tries to tell everyone else that it is none of their business. Domestic violence – the leading cause of injury to women in the United States – [...]

We are all a part of the $1.5 trillion global fashion industry and we may be supporting forced labor, environmental pollution, and animal cruelty without knowing it. Conscientious consumers should be aware of the fashion industry’s tremendous global impact on people, our planet, and animals. We can all choose to not support unethical practices with [...]

The populations of both children and seniors are exploding in the U.S., and each is at risk because they must depend on others for care. As traditional family structures and careers change, intergenerational bonds disintegrate, so knowledge and life skills are lost rather than passed on. How can we design more safe, caring places where [...]

Women are naturally a nurturing gender, leading from a place of caring and compassion. What happens when women are able to tap into the courage to be fearless and lead from a place of power and compassion? Maria Cramer discusses how women can tap into their fearlessness and find their power to make lasting change, [...]

For more than 3 years, Suzanne Brown has interviewed professional part-time working moms to hear their stories and understand their advice, insights, and challenges. In addition to sharing a few of these stories, Suzanne highlights a holistic view of changes impacting the U.S. workforce. She argues that the U.S. population shifts, social aspect, and business [...]

Through powerful narratives, researcher and SMU faculty member, Dr. Candice Bledsoe discusses the experiences of the underrepresented in America. She challenges her audience to read between the lines of American history to find the missing narratives. Dr. Candice Bledsoe is a faculty member at SMU’s Simmons School of Education and executive director of the Action [...]

Educators talk a lot about learner autonomy, but less so about the conditions that promote learners’ feelings of choice and control. In this talk, Jon Stolk examines how learning environments may be better designed to promote the emergence of confident, agile, self-directed learners. Jon Stolk strives to design and facilitate extraordinary learning experiences. He creates [...]

Advertising is the Dirty Profession, famous for snake oil salesmen and shysters, shilling things that nobody needs, creating this bankrupt consumerist culture. But what if I told you that you were unknowingly in advertising too? My own journey from human evolution and ecology into marketing has taught me that we are all in advertising—and that’s [...]

TEDxSMU is an all-day TED-style conference for the SMU and Dallas communities. An active participant in the TEDx program since its inception in 2009, TEDxSMU has built its reputation on bringing together ideas and interesting people from around the world and around the corner. Stories have the power to move us, to change the way [...]

40 people around the world including a Pulitzer Prize winner have created a virtual church around ABC’s hit show Scandal. We are creating significant connections in new ways, but our need to connect remains as old as time. How can we use these connections to make our communities and lives stronger? Dr. Maria Dixon is [...]

Be a catalyst. What does that even mean? The Catalyst Arts Movement speaks on why we should all be catalysts, and the three steps to becoming one. The co-founders discuss their personal experiences in becoming catalysts, and why they believe all people should seek to spark change in their communities, regardless of their age or [...]

Driven by surprising data and punctuated with the raw stories of real working mothers, Jessica Shortall makes the impassioned case that the reality of new working motherhood in America is both hidden and horrible: millions of women, every year, are forced back to work within just weeks of giving birth. The United States is one [...]

Alice Laussade, CEO of Meat Fight, Inc., talks about funlanthropy, and how meats, beers, and bacon doughnuts helped her organize a fanatical community in support of her beefy battle against Multiple Sclerosis. Alice Laussade is the creator and host of the Dallas event, Meat Fight®, a barbecue competition, meat dream and fundraiser that benefits the [...]

Equal parts witty and emotional, Candy Peterson reveals how a mother’s intuition proved more accurate than doctors’ assessments and ultimately lead to a melanoma diagnosis in her young daughter, Marit. Thrown onto the scary path of cancer, Candy shares the unexpected twists and turns faced along the way. She challenges us that when “presented with [...]

The day after the Charleston murders, Tracy found herself sitting in a jury room considering whether she, a black woman, could be a fair and impartial juror in a case where a young white man killed 9 innocent people because of the color of their skin. What happened as a result of that morning has [...]

Men make up less than three percent of Preschool and Kindergarten teachers in the U.S., a number that hasn’t budged for at least 15 years. That isn’t just bad news for the men who would be great at this job. It’s bad for anyone who wants gender equality in any other field. Kindergarten teacher Jake [...]

We as a group of 16 high school students have found a way to leave a legacy on a totally different level. Team members: Sophie Alderete, Nathan Bray, Connor Campbell, Jody Chen, Adam Emerich, Jennifer Helmer, Jeremy Muniz, Emem Okan, Sagar Patel, Vanessa Pearl, Zach Post, Jessie Searles, Henry Werner, Austin Williams, Maddie Williams & [...]

From its founding, Dallas fully intended to become a port city with river access to the Gulf of Mexico. We’ll hear the story of that quest, which reached epic proportions before it failed, and why it shouldn’t be forgotten. Music: Zachary Sarantitis, Podington Bear Photos: Library of Congress, Dallas Public Library, SMU’s DeGolyer Library, LBJ [...]

When an unexpected pregnancy develops unexpected complications, a young father learns how brokenness can help heal brokenness and reveal the precious fragility of life. Rev. Mike Baughman is a United Methodist pastor serving as the Community Curator at Union, a new kind of non-profit coffee shop in Dallas that exists to care for the well-being [...]

My unexpected journey from painting student at Edna Manley College in Jamaica, to Director of Culture for the State of Connecticut. Kristina Newman-Scott is the Director of Culture for the State of Connecticut where she oversees all aspects of the state’s programs and services related to art, culture and historic preservation. Prior to this role, [...]

You’d think that being diagnosed with breast cancer would open your eyes and help you realize what’s important in life, but it took more than that to wake up this single working mom. Sometimes it takes crashing into something! Now she’s focused on living her best day ever – everyday and living with intent. She [...]

While baby boomers may deny they are aging, that denial robs them of the very perks that aging brings, such as permission to be authentic. With age comes wisdom, freedom and an understanding of what is truly important in life. Embracing age is an art to be savored and celebrated lest we reach our end [...]

4D Circle has created a new system of digitizing commercial real estate that allows people, business and natural resources to profit better together than apart. Mant Hawkins explains the remarkable results of 4D Circle’s work that rapidly increases commercial real estate value (the economic engine). Partnering with innovative thinkers like the Fort Worth Police Officer’s [...]

Through this initiative we share the history of our people in their voice, as seen through their eyes. We focus on everyday lives of Choctaws through pivotal moments in history, exploring topics such as the Civil Rights movement, boarding school initiatives, and relocation efforts. We gather oral accounts of what it was like to be [...]

As a society, we’re very good at knowing but not very good at not knowing – being comfortable with surprise and uncertainty. What are the dangers of certainty and the benefits of embracing uncertainty? And how do we get better at cultivating a habit of wondering? Tania Luna is a leadership trainer at LifeLabs New [...]

TEDxKids@SMU is a one-of-a-kind experience and the first ever TED style conference for kids. Middle school students in 6th, 7th and 8th grade from across North Texas come to the Dallas City Performance Hall in the Arts District to engage with big ideas and great conversations. This day is dedicated to kids; adults are asked [...]

Write Club is an idea by award winning teacher and World Poetry Slam Champion, Joaquín Zihuatanejo to provide a platform for young people who love writing as much, if not more than they love football. Write Club is a place for all of the beautifully odd students who write poetry to gather and feel safe [...]

Parish NASA Rover Team members Sophie Alford, Katie Wall, Whitney Wheeler, and Madalyn White share the challenging journey the team has taken the last two years. As a first year team that finished near last place with a rover that didn’t roll, who with hard work and resilience transformed themselves into a competitive team that [...]

Did you know your body is incredible? No, like REALLY incredible? It is actually innately designed to self-heal and self-regulate. That’s right, you have your very own superpower! You have the amazing ability to keep yourself healthy. It’s called Innate Intelligence, and it’s the power that coordinates and repairs your body, without you ever having [...]

Shaunessy is very passionate for music and would like to pursue the violin for a career. She will be speaking over the evolution of music and how much it has changed since the Renaissance period. Shaunessy will also be playing Banjo and Fiddle by William Kroll, accompanied by piano. Shaunessy Renker is a 10th grader [...]

In this talk, Tara will playfully speak to why intellectual curiosity is so important to both kids and adults alike. She pulls from her own experience and tells stories about being dyslexic and her fascination with learning new things. She believes that people with dyslexia have a natural ability to be more curious about the [...]

So many of us hide who we are behind walls of shame. We hold back because we are afraid to be vulnerable. Brian shares his own story of shame. He explores how shame holds us back and what we can do to release it by sharing our stories. Brian Luna was born deep in the [...]

When thinking of labyrinths, you might imagine a maze filled with twists and turns, or perhaps a hero battling a minotaur in the middle. In reality, a labyrinth is a tool crafted by many ancient cultures that is becoming increasingly relevant in our modern, chaotic times. Anyone seeking clarity and peace can walk in a [...]

Have you ever thought about reversing the Golden Rule? What would happen if we started treating ourselves the way we treated others? As both a poet and someone who once struggled with an eating disorder my goal is to share my story through spoken word poetry and in turn encourage those around me to revolutionize [...]

Lemonade stands show entrepreneurship in kids, my talk is about how we can provide a platform to grow that entrepreneurship in youth. I will go over my own example and how I setup a club that helps develop entrepreneurship in youth. Bobby has proven to be a visionary and is able to successfully execute on [...]

Be a catalyst. What does that even mean? The Catalyst Arts Movement speaks on why we should all be catalysts, and the three steps to becoming one. The cofounders discuss their personal experiences in becoming catalysts, and why they believe all people should seek to spark change in their communities, regardless of their age or [...]

TEDWomen 2015 was a TED event curated by TED and Pat Mitchell that focused on women and women’s issues. TEDxWomen events are TEDx events hosted around the live webcast of TEDWomen, and will also feature live, local speakers. Our event was called TEDxSMUWomen and was one of many TEDx events that happened around the globe [...]

What if we could apply NeuroMarketing to better understand human behavior, like companies do with their brands? Our non-conscious mind drives nearly everything we do. Measuring and predicting people’s reactions to other human beings and even products is complex. NeuroScience helps us increase our chances of doing so by understanding how our brains operate. Michelle [...]

Women are making great strides academically earning almost half the advanced degrees in Medicine, Law and Business but why are a smaller percentage of women than men reaching the top of their professions? Systems Engineer Jasmin Rohman goes into the details of how the “Academic System” and the “Professional System” require four different inputs that [...]

Sharing of my story in how I was hired into the world of Sports Television…overcoming the hurdles of being a college student with limited to no experience and landing a job with NBC…and how I used that learning to get a job at The Coca-Cola Company. Being a woman in sports television in the 80s [...]

Getting fired up about legacy may take some effort, but your family and friends will be eternally grateful. Learn about legacy which is the YOU that you leave behind – your wisdom, your values and especially your stories. Join the movement to share a story today. If everyone who watches this TED Talk records and [...]

The most influential people and the best leaders are those who dare to be their REAL selves, powerfully. People want to give them their best. But how do you do that when the stakes feel high? How can we be brave in the face of our own inescapable humanity? Drawing from personal stories, from years [...]

In 2012 I spoke at TEDxSMU about my 20 year art project: WE ARE ALL HOMELESS. It was in that talk that I first mentioned wanting to travel across the US buying signs in cities along the way. In 2014, from July 1- July 31, I did just that. With a 3 person documentary film [...]

What is the purpose of pre-K to 12 schooling? This talk explores why questions of purpose matter – and how our current approach is insufficient – and proposes a path forward for more purposeful schools. Milan Sevak is currently a faculty member at SMU and directs the Ed.D. program in educational leadership. He has previously [...]

With the proliferation of social media, we are increasingly engaged in identity work, that is, the forming, repairing, maintaining and revising our sense of self-worth and personal significance. The key question that this talk will seek to answer is “how are social media shaping our identities, that is, who we are and who we can [...]

Brownderville claims that poetry can make one’s mind an interesting place to live. He tells stories about his intense relationship with language, his early experiences of poetry, and his dad’s delight in funny-sounding words. Greg Brownderville has published a book of poems titled Gust (Northwestern University Press/TriQuarterly, 2011) and a book of folkloristic poems titled [...]

How many students do you know make over $20 an hour? The Independent Sector reported the value of a single hour of volunteer time to be worth $22.55 in 2013. Not only are time and money valuable assets, there are endless ways to get creative and give back to your community! I was blessed as [...]

Today, I also want to invite you to get involved in the education of English language learners. If you have time…become a volunteer. Once you know some of these children, you will become their life long advocate. If you have influence…use it to engage others in participating in this urgent matter. You can make the [...]

Focusing on the recent controversy over the Charlie Hebdo cartoons and massacre, I will explain why it is crucial that we protect speech that is clearly hurtful and that may well lead to serious consequences. There are several reasons why hurtful speech should be highly protected including the market place of ideas, the promotion of [...]

We all have the choice to be free. My short talk and performance is what freedom means to me. Maya A. Jones, Soprano, a Texas Native, has been studying voice since the young age of 11. Eager to learn all she could about her love of Voice, Maya participated in regional and state competitions, performed [...]

Dale Thomas Vaughn breaks down the crisis of masculinity and shares insight on how great men transcend the big barrier we all experience. In an inspirational, heartfelt talk, he illustrates the 3 steps and 7 simple but powerful words that can build deeper connection, respect, and purpose in your life. Best-selling author of “The Good [...]

Today only 40% of American families eat meals together, while a generation ago 80% of families ate meals together. Family meals are fundamental gateways to connectedness and imparting life lessons that are building blocks in sustaining our moral sense of purpose and direction. During meals we touch, listen and talk. Rochelle was raised in Dallas, [...]

Professor Fugate argues that leaders at all levels and across industries need to focus on ethical liability above and beyond legal liabilities for themselves and their organizations. Ethical liability tests the true character of a leader and determines the character and quality of an organization’s culture. He illustrates this point in the context of higher [...]

IQ, GPA, and SAT: these are the tree tools used to measure every child who wants to go to college. IQ measures your potential, GPA tells how you measure up to that potential, and SAT tells what colleges will look at you. However there are plenty of examples of people we think of as intelligent [...]

Where are you? Do you truly know your purpose? Have you truly found what you love, who you are? Waiting for some cosmic intervention is not the answer. What will work better is actively seeking out your passion. For each of us, the journey and the destination are different. Ashley shares with you how she [...]

What drives economic growth? Is economic growth dead, or dying? Thomas Siems presents a model to find the factors that drive economic growth and wealth creation, and shows that while innovation is at the heart of economic growth, there are other important forces that help explain and drive long-run growth. He shows persuasive evidence that [...]

The future of energy lies with micro production. Global warming and localized pollution are not going away without big changes, but the solution shouldn’t be a sacrifice. The necessary change won’t be found in a wind farm, it involves every housetop in America. @jonah_w_kirby jonahkirby.com Jonah Kirby is a junior at SMU pursuing a major [...]

This talk speaks on the joy of working with SMU students for over 25 years, and I am still smiling. Jennifer M. Jones earned her B.A. and her Masters of Liberal Arts from Southern Methodist University. She joined the Staff of SMU in 1985. After serving 16 years in various roles within Residence Life and [...]

Our ability to respond positively and productively in new cultural situations depends as much on our feelings as on our knowledge. Let’s look at some examples, and how we can also fall in love with a different culture. Robert A. Hunt was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1955. After attending school in Austin and Richardson, [...]

With only a hand full of schools teaching Arts Entrepreneurship ten years ago, today there are over ninety-five American colleges and universities addressing the topic. But how should artists be taught entrepreneurial skills? If artists want an MBA, they will go get one–but, for the most part, this is not happening. When educators appeal to [...]

TEDTalks aren’t just for grown-ups anymore. Connecting kids and knowledge in the form of TEDTalks has inspired a youth movement around the world. TED Content Director Kelly Stoetzel gives a passionate talk on the impact these programs have had on young people. As the Content Director at TED, Kelly spends most of the year working [...]

The story of how “The Book of Life” was made by the writer and director. Born in delicious Mexico City and raised in eclectic Tijuana, Gutierrez attended CalArts, where he received his BFA & MFA in Experimental Animation under Jules Engel. For his thesis film he created the CG short “Carmelo”, which won the 2001 [...]

Riya Mahesh, a freshman at Coppell High School has always been fascinated by the choice of role models for young adults. We are puzzling creatures, little bugs trying to find a place in this world. Without the guidance of role models, it can be hard sometimes find out what career teens want to pursue. Riya [...]

Recent advances in artificial intelligence, represented by systems such as IBM’s Watson, along with highly interactive technologies such as touch, natural language, gesture and speech recognition are significant milestones in computing. At the same time, advances in neuroscience promise to bring us closer to a deeper understanding of cognitive processes such as learning. At the [...]

I’ve learned the importance of not giving in to society’s pressure when it comes to doing something you love, and what I’ve learned can be applied by anyone who needs courage to be true to themselves even if it might mean being unpopular. Howard grew up in Fort Worth, went to school in Denton, and [...]

Making a positive impact to the world means making a positive impact to yourself first, that which could be achieved from doing something as simple. As. A smile. But how? The answer lies write here… Spoiler alert: lots of chocolates, cash, smiley faces (duh!) and inspirational stories involved, viewer discretion advised. Or shall I say, [...]

We use scientific thinking in labs and universities across the globe to answer some of the biggest questions we face as a species. But somehow, we fail to use that same scientific framework in our personal lives. Quin Patton is a Dallas based food scientist and currently works as a product developer for PepsiCo, Frito-Lay. [...]

Long-term conservation and management of species in captivity, as well as in the wild, is one of the primary missions of the Dallas Zoo. CEO of the Dallas Zoo Gregg Hudson will discuss the importance of their conservation program and the connections visitors feel with the animals. Candance and Allyssa will join him onstage along [...]

Have you ever wondered about the psychical effects on the human body due to music? The toll each musical note takes upon each organ? What about the psychological effects of music? What does music do to people? My name is Praharshitha Veeramraju and I am a senior attending Heritage High School in Frisco, TX. I [...]

Listen Imagine Make is the story of an east Dallas neighborhood that is fighting to thrive and the idea that sometimes the best way to make a difference is to ask forgiveness instead of permission. Andrew believes that design solutions are most profound when they build off the expertise and priorities of those most affected [...]

An original poem that highlights the reflections of a dog growing up with children. Katrina is 11 years old and a 6th grader at McCulloch Intermediate School. She has been writing poetry since she was 8 and has always loved theater.

Ben Ovenshire, Kieran Celii, and Drew Curran provide their reflections on how striving to improve teamwork within FRC team 2848 created a strong foundation during the team’s 2014 season. The Jesuit Robotics Team aspires to inspire Jesuit students and the local community to seek careers in science and technology. They prepare students to make an [...]

Join me on a virtual trip back to the Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle where I lived with locals (rats, bats, and snakes), drank chicha, spoke Kichwa, and ultimately learned a hard lesson: there is great power in failing. Sadie Funk brings years of experience in working with families and the community at large to impact change. [...]

Parker’s music is his journal. Writing songs are a way for him to process what teenagers are going through today. He has a heart for helping his friends. He writes songs and releases them into the world hoping people will connect with them in some way. Not all of his songs are personal experiences; some [...]

Not all entrepreneurs look or act like Steve Jobs. Some get rich, but the vast majority do not; some have no interest in that at all. The common link for many of them is a desire to change the world, and there are many innovative ways to do so. This talk provides a look at [...]

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum engages, teaches, and inspires through the power of rock and roll music. CEO, Greg Harris will share the inside story of the songs and artifacts that shape and define us. Rooted in his personal experience as the owner of a Philadelphia record store that specialized in [...]

Kathak and Flamenco both originally came from India. The Gypsies began their journey in India, traveled thousands of miles, and encountered numerous other cultures and traditions before settling in Europe and the Americas. Although both styles originated in the same area of the world, each dance took centuries to create its own identity. After traveling [...]

Far from tricking people, lying to them, and deceiving them, I suggest that magic is an art form that celebrates impossible things, thereby energizing people to see beyond accepted limits and to imagine new possibilities for transformation. This account of magic performance overturns common misconceptions about magic and helps explain why there have been magicians [...]

In life, one has to follow their passions – though how and where those passions come from can be the result of an amazing journey! I will describe my unusual path to becoming world renowned for my novel scientific discoveries on how male and female fat cells are not all the same! Sex matters – [...]

This talk is focused on my five year personal photographic project traveling around the country photographing various companies and individuals that still handcraft beautiful products here in America. I will discuss the many observations and amazing adventures I experienced along the way. Tadd Myers is an award-winning photographer who specializes in advertising, corporate, and editorial [...]

It is wrong to assume that because someone is in prison they do not have the potential to be positive and active members of their communities. We at the African Prisons Project believe that prison can be, and should be, a place of positive transformation, and the work that APP has done over the past [...]

Since the day his movie came out, banjo players have become social outcasts. But I’ve learned the importance of not giving in to society’s pressure when it comes to doing something you love, and what I’ve learned can be applied by anyone who needs courage to be true to themselves even if it might mean [...]

Ben Ovenshire, Kieran Celii, and Drew Curran provide their reflections on how striving to improve teamwork within FRC team 2848 created a strong foundation during the team’s 2014 season. The Jesuit Robotics Team aspires to inspire Jesuit students and the local community to seek careers in science and technology. They prepare students to make an [...]

Recent advances in artificial intelligence, represented by systems such as IBM’s Watson, along with highly interactive technologies such as touch, natural language, gesture and speech recognition are significant milestones in computing. At the same time, advances in neuroscience promise to bring us closer to a deeper understanding of cognitive processes such as learning. At the [...]

Dale was born in Bangkok, Thailand. The son of Missionaries, Dale traveled throughout the country of Thailand, living in the city of Bangkok as well as primitive areas such as Chaing Mai and Chaing Rai. In order to make a living after graduation, Dale started his first business, a graphic design company called Creative Art Design. [...]

Social Media historian Allison Graham offers a witty and ironic view of a society that feels alone together despite the hundreds of virtual connections we have online. With a global population growing up via Facebook and Twitter and a perceptible shift in human interpersonal connections, the constant need for social self-validation permeates our daily existence. [...]

The discovery of antibiotics in the early part of the last century resulted in the greatest single jump in average human lifespan in the recorded history of medicine. After more than 80 years of antibiotic over-use, regulatory hostility, and corporate indifference we have arrived, collectively, at the eve of the “post-antibiotic era”. Should this emerge [...]

This experiment we call The Color Condition has transformed not only spaces, but also ourselves, our visions, and how we see everyday objects and possibilities (our dream streams). Simple material and basic construction can transform the mundane into a visual presence prompting the viewer to re-imagine their environment. We invite you to look at the [...]

In a groundbreaking talk, Dr. Tomicah Tillemann outlines how leaders in finance and civil society are coming together to tap $25 trillion on behalf of social impact. You’ll never look at the stock market the same way again. In October 2010, Secretary Clinton appointed Dr. Tomicah Tillemann as Senior Advisor for Civil Society and Emerging [...]

Kathak and Flamenco both originally came from India. The Gypsies began their journey in India, traveled thousands of miles, and encountered numerous other cultures and traditions before settling in Europe and the Americas. Although both styles originated in the same area of the world, each dance took centuries to create its own identity. After traveling [...]

Cacoethes is the story of an east Dallas neighborhood that is fighting to thrive and the idea that sometimes the best way to make a difference is to ask forgiveness instead of permission. Andrew believes that design solutions are most profound when they build off the expertise and priorities of those most affected by them. [...]

Engineers often draw inspiration from nature. For example, several recently developed robots accurately imitate various aspects of animal systems. Yet, the relationship between engineering and nature has largely been one-directional: engineers borrow ideas from nature to build more efficient and better performing devices for use in human-centered applications. In this talk, we explore “the other [...]

Around the world artists are collaborating with professionals from various disciplines, NGOs and other organizations to create public art that transforms the social, political and ecological environment. These projects often include community members in the production of the work, creating a sense of belonging and new spaces for gathering and engagement. Reflecting on over 20 [...]

Violence against women plagues every country in the world. Fortunately, the problem and the solutions are similar. This talk discusses the four concrete steps that are necessary to combat this epidemic. Cindy Dyer serves as the Vice President of Human Rights at Vital Voices Global Partnership where she leads the organization’s efforts to address all [...]

We live in a culture that worships data. In domains ranging from public policy to product design, data and research are seen as the path to a more certain, scientific future. For designers, this means an increasing pressure to justify every decision with research. But what if instead of opening our eyes, research is closing [...]

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum engages, teaches, and inspires through the power of rock and roll music. CEO, Greg Harris will share the inside story of the songs and artifacts that shape and define us. Rooted in his personal experience as the owner of a Philadelphia record store that specialized in [...]

Dr. Willard Spiegelman is Duwain E. Hughes Jr. Distinguished Professor of English at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He earned his A.B. degree from Williams College magna cum laude and with highest honors in English. He did graduate work at Harvard, where he held Woodrow Wilson and Danforth fellowships and earned an A.M. and [...]

Blake C. Norvell is an attorney and mediator whose practice areas include litigation, transactional, and appeals. He is admitted to the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Texas. He has authored numerous articles that analyze significant legal and public policy issues. His articles have been published in law journals throughout the country, [...]

Dr. Ben Voth teaches and coaches students in order to equip them to have a voice in society. Voth works with a variety of individuals such as Holocaust survivors, national speech champions, top speakers in debate, community advocates, and government leaders to ensure that the human value of being heard is instilled. His research in [...]

Dennis Simon is an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Political Science at Southern Methodist University. He is the recipient of SMU’s “M” Award, the Willis Tate Award, and President’s Associate award. He regularly teaches courses on congressional elections, the American Presidency, presidential elections, and the politics of change in the United States. [...]

The Breaking Winds Bassoon Quartet employs a dash of comedy and a full range of uncommon sounds to promote music as a force that inspires and connects. Brittany Harrington, Yuki Katayama, Kara LaMoure, and Lauren Yu Ziemba met while studying at the Eastman School of Music, and their extracurricular project of playing quartets quickly developed into [...]

Martin L. Camp is the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Adjunct Professor at the SMU Dedman School of Law. After five years as an associate at Hughes and Luce in Dallas and Austin and twenty plus years as a partner at Jones Day in Austin, Kuwait and Dallas I returned to SMU Dedman School [...]

Marc P. Christensen is dean of the Lyle School of Engineering. He is one of the nation’s key leaders in mapping photonic technology onto applications. In 2007, DARPA identified him as a “rising star in microsystems research” for his development of an adaptive multi-resolution imaging architecture, and selected him to be one of the first of [...]

Joshua Rovner is the John Goodwin Tower Distinguished Chair of International Politics and National Security, Associate Professor of Political Science, and Director of Studies at the Tower Center for Political Studies. Before coming to SMU, he was Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy at the Naval War College, and he also taught at Columbia University [...]

Rev. Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles has taught New Testament at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University since 2001. She received her B.A. from Stetson University where she studied Philosophy and Russian Studies. She earned her M.Div. from Yale Divinity School and her Ph.D. in New Testament from Yale University. Her specialties include “The Gospel of [...]

Michael S. Harris is an associate professor of higher education and director of the higher education program. His scholarly interests are in public policy and the organization of public higher education. He is currently exploring the issue of institutional diversity and the interplay between market forces, government involvement, and higher education. Harris published a monograph [...]

Arnaud is a senior at SMU from Dallas, TX majoring in French, English and mathematics. He enjoys the alto saxophone, piano, theatre, journalism, Frisbee®, poetry, photography, and Quiz Bowl. After graduation Arnaud plans to attend graduate school, pursuing a degree in literature.

Mr. Murphree is principal of Murphree Venture Partners. He earned a B.A. degree in economics from SMU in 1969 and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1971. A former member of SMU’s Board of Trustees and Alumni Board, Mr. Murphree serves on the Dedman College Executive Board, and the [...]

The Reverend Dr. Stephen Rankin has been involved in higher education for nearly 20 years, as a professor, and a campus minister at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, and now, as Chaplain to the SMU Community. Prior to this work, he served as pastor in three United Methodist congregations. He and his wife, Joni, provided [...]

Eric Gradman, CTO & Mad Inventor, Two Bit Circus USC Computer Science, USC Master of Computer Science Eric Gradman is an inventor & entertainer who makes others see technology as magic. He has a colorful history as a circus performer, professional whistler & roboticist. For 15 years he has designed and built cutting-edge technology products [...]

Admiral Patrick Walsh, President of Strategic Programs, Academic Partnerships, retired on 1 March 2012, as commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, where he led the US military response to the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. During his career, Admiral Walsh flew with the “Blue Angels,” was the operations officer and commander of Strike-Fighter Squadrons, commanded Carrier [...]

Nicole Stewart is sixth generation Dallasite. She attended The Hockaday School then graduated summa cum laude and with honors in theatre from Northwestern University in 2001. She pursued a professional acting career in New York City and then Los Angeles, where her passion for true, personal storytelling was ignited. After twelve years away, Nicole moved [...]

Vanessa Ramirez currently serves as the Director of the KIPP Alumni Association. In this role, she provides an extra layer of support to guarantee her college-age alumni are equipped with and are using the skills necessary to get to and through college, with special focus on ensuring they celebrate their accomplishments, are committed to empowering [...]

Blayke Drury is a senior at Keller High School, where she is active in choir, Mock Trial, and Academic Decathlon. Outside of school, she enjoys competing in choral competitions, reading, and spending time with her family. This is her first TED experience but she is thrilled to share the stage with such talented and innovative [...]

Isabella Page is a 5th grader with big dreams and wide interests. When not at school, she enjoys reading (particularly fantasy and science fiction); playing Minecraft, playing on her recreational soccer and volleyball teams, listening to music and spending time with family and friends. She is a fan of science and math and learned about [...]

The Internet’s vast information and open-source projects have enabled innovators to stand on the shoulders of others. Nine months ago, Vinjai and Adithya – two students with an interest in electronics – came up with an idea to help with a major problem: finger amputations. Join them on their journey of creating, publishing, and open-sourcing [...]

The University of Texas at Austin Musical Theatre Ambassadors is a talented group of undergraduate students who are each pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre and Dance with an Emphasis in Musical Theatre, a program of study that rigorously trains students in voice, music, dance, and acting. Up to six students are recruited [...]

Dave Lieber is the national-award-winning Watchdog newspaper columnist for The Dallas Morning News, a prize-winning author and storytelling expert. For his investigative newspaper column, Dave receives 50 pitches a week for story ideas – and takes the best two. He knows how to find and identify memorable stories that people care about.

Vanessa Ramirez currently serves as the Director of the KIPP Alumni Association. In this role, she provides an extra layer of support to guarantee her college-age alumni are equipped with and are using the skills necessary to get to and through college, with special focus on ensuring they celebrate their accomplishments, are committed to empowering [...]

Devonric (DD) Johnson was born in Dallas, Texas on April 12, 1980. DD lived with his great Aunt, Mary Holloway until the age of 13. While living with his Aunt he endured an unbelievable hardship of severe poor living conditions which ultimately lead to him living on the street. Although his home life was in [...]

LyAnna Johnson Smith is a graduate student at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and currently serves as the Intern Pastor at Servants of Christ United Methodist Parish in Houston, TX. She is a certified candidate for ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church. LyAnna is a former political campaign staffer, legislative [...]

Admiral Patrick Walsh, President of Strategic Programs, Academic Partnerships, retired on 1 March 2012, as commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, where he led the US military response to the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. During his career, Admiral Walsh flew with the “Blue Angels,” was the operations officer and commander of Strike-Fighter Squadrons, commanded Carrier [...]

Nicole Stewart is a sixth generation Dallasite. She attended the Hockaday School then graduated summa cum laude and with honors in theatre from Northwestern University in 2001. She pursued a professional acting career in New York City and then Los Angeles, where her passion for true, personal storytelling was ignited. After twelve years away, Nicole [...]

Biff Franklin Palmer, MD, is Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. He received his medical degree from UT Southwestern Medical School and completed his residency in internal medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C. He then went on to complete a research fellowship in the Department of Nephrology [...]

Michael J. Sorrell is the 34th President of Paul Quinn College. Under his leadership, Paul Quinn is experiencing one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of higher education and is regularly mentioned nationally as one of the most innovative schools in America. Among the school’s numerous accomplishments during his tenure have been: winning the [...]

Frederick R. Chang is the Bobby B. Lyle Endowed Centennial Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security and Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering. He is also a Senior Fellow in the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies in SMU’s Dedman College. He has been Professor and [...]

Joseph S. Takahashi, Ph.D. is the Loyd B. Sands Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience, an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. His research interests are the molecular mechanism of circadian clocks, neuroscience, and the genetic basis of behavior. [...]

Dan is passionate about creating moments in peoples lives where they can interact with something beautiful, meaningful, and/or possibly profound. During the day he is the “Visual Strategist” at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he develops creative ways of communicating, and works to transform complex concepts into meaningful stories that can be universally understood. His work is seen in [...]

Pamela Nelson is an artist living in Dallas, working in painting, mixed media, and public art installations. Pamela has exhibited in over 100 national venues, including the Dallas Museum of Art, Austin Museum of Art, Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, Beaumont Museum of Art, Texas, National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington [...]

24-year old Katie Spotz, from Mentor, Ohio, describes herself as having been the “benchwarmer” throughout her life. However, there came a time when she made a discovery: you don’t have to be extraordinary to achieve incredible things. And she set about achieving them, one by one. The list of accomplishments to her name is long, [...]

Afshan Khan serves as President & CEO of Women for Women International (WfWI), where she sets the strategic vision, mobilizes resources to execute that vision, and leads innovations in WfWI’s work that enable women affected by war and conflict to transform their own lives, their families, and communities. She is also the primary spokesperson for [...]

Eric G. Bing is a medical doctor and global health researcher committed to saving lives among the world’s most vulnerable populations using low cost, innovative, and market-orientated solutions. For more than two decades he has provided care, developed programs and conducted research in some of the poorest areas of Africa, the Caribbean and the United [...]

Dr. Judith Allen joined Communities In Schools Dallas Region in 2005 as a campus service provider and currently oversees programmatic operations of the organization and its 69 school sites. The daughter of Haitian immigrants, she is originally from the Chicagoland area, eventually finding herself NYC, working with child service based non-profits and the mental hygiene [...]

Ask Rena Pederson how to say hello in Burmese and she can tell you – Mingalabar!” A world traveler and award-winning writer, Pederson teaches persuasive writing at SMU. She previously worked as a speechwriter and Strategic Communications Advisor at the U.S. Department of State. She also received national recognition as Vice President and Editorial Page [...]

Dr. Kenneth Berry is the Assistant Director of the University of Texas at Dallas Science and Engineering Education Center (SEEC). Dr. Berry has been an educator for over 25 years. During his career he has taught middle school and high school science in downtown Los Angeles, been an Education Specialist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, [...]

Will Richey is an award winning Spoken Word Artist and creative arts educator who over the last decade has left an imprint across North Texas mixing and melding original poetry performances in workshops, speaking engagements and the production of interactive art events. From school districts to the arts district, drug and alcohol prevention and recovery [...]

Andrés grew up between Texas, Nicaragua, and Peru. Besides giving him a bit of a national identity crisis, it helped him see that most of the world’s problems are not confined by borders. In trying to find their solutions, he realized the way we produce and use energy lies at the root of many of [...]

Brent Bushnell is the CEO of Two Bit Circus, a Los Angeles-based “make tank” focused on products at the crossroads of amusement and education. The interdisciplinary team strives to make entertainment more enriching and education more fun. Most recently the team launched STEAM Carnival, a modern re-imagining of the midway to inspire kids about science, [...]

Rachael Chong is the Founder and CEO of Catchafire, an innovative platform that connects nonprofits with professionals looking to volunteer their skills. Since its founding in 2009, Catchafire has become the world’s largest online skills-based volunteer platform. Rachael has been named one of Fast Company’s Most 100 Creative People in Business, received the NYC Venture [...]

Originally from Las Vegas, Katrina is in her fourth year at the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU, pursuing a Bachelor of Music Degree in Classical Guitar Performance and participating in the University’s Honors Program. She studies with world-renowned guitarist Robert Guthrie and gives recitals at SMU each semester. In April 2011, Katrina and [...]

David Gallo is an American oceanographer and Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution—a preeminent, globally recognized scientific laboratory. For more than 25 years, Dave has been at the forefront of ocean exploration, participating in and being witness to the development of new technologies and scientific discoveries that shape our view of [...]

Dr. Brett Giroir is Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives for the Texas A&M University System and Principal Investigator for the Texas A&M Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, a public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designed to enhance the nation’s emergency preparedness against emerging infectious diseases, including pandemic [...]

Luke invents the hybrid between machine intelligence and human computation. The crowd-sourcing technologies Luke builds engage tens of thousands of people to work together to understand music, discover lost mysteries and maybe even save the world. Found the tomb of Genghis Khan with the help of 10,000 people online. Can hack code while carrying on [...]

Greg Harper is CEO of Harpervision Associates, a firm dedicated to the development and implementation of cutting edge technology for businesses purposes and co-founder of Gadgetoff. He is a long time strategic technology advisor to private equity firms and leading Wall Street investment banks as well as major public corporations. As the designer of systems [...]

Jeremi is the Mack Brown Distinguished Professor for Global Leadership, History, and Public Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of five books on contemporary politics and foreign policy. In September 2011 he published a new book on the past and future of nation building: Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building [...]

An endlessly curious person who grew up in a small Iowa town, Kyle received degrees in music from Iowa State University, Northwestern University and Tanglewood. After stints teaching music, arts and humanities at Alverno College, technical writing, and managing International Sales and Marketing for BancTec, Kyle bought a coffee shop. He added tea to the [...]

Christian is an SMU President’s Scholar majoring in Computer Science with a premedical specialization. He has an affinity for tech startups, a knack for Web development, and a fascination with the rapid progress of technology and its implications on the future of human society. Christian is on a mission to inspire the world to learn [...]

Will Power is an award-winning playwright and performer. Power’s adaptation of the Greek tragedy Seven Against Thebes, retitled “The Seven,” enjoyed a successful Off-Broadway run at the New York Theater Workshop and the La Jolla Playhouse. His solo show FLOW was featured in the Hip Hop Theater Festival before touring nationally and internationally to critical [...]

Lewis, 15, is an award-winning pianist and an accomplished composer, arranger, and improviser. His special ability to connect with people through music was evident at an early age. He started composing many of his own songs when he was five years old, and he has been a frequent top prizewinner in local, state and international [...]

Byron is the executive director of the Dallas Education Foundation, a nonprofit charitable and educational organization that benefits Dallas Independent School District. Founded in 2006, the Foundation has been a channel for the philanthropic, foundation and corporate communities to support initiatives and programs benefitting the students of the second largest public school district in Texas. [...]

Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director and producer who captures breathtaking images and stories that celebrate life – revealing connections, universal rhythms, patterns and beauty. His notable career spans feature films, television shows, commercials and documentaries. He won two Clio Awards for TV advertising, including best environmental broadcast spot, an EMMY® nomination for best [...]

A former corporate executive in manufacturing, Charley has been a longtime supporter of the Pay it Forward mission. In fact, Charley is so passionate about Pay it Forward that he left his company and career behind in 2011 to help advance its mission and bring back simplicity in a complex world. As the president of [...]

An experienced and passionate innovation catalyst, Courtney is a sought-after international speaker and creativity consultant. For the past 15 years she and her teammates have worked hard to inspire corporations and the people who run them to embrace change and fuel passion to generate new ideas. Courtney designs and leads high energy, interactive, story based [...]

Asha’s name means hope and she is full of it. Her first TED experience was from the center front row of the first ever TEDxKids @SMU when she was nine. She heckled Rives and made a friend – he was the first spoken word poet she’d ever met. When her school announced a slam poetry [...]

Masha was born in the small Republic of Moldova, located in Eastern Europe. At the age of twelve, she moved to the United States where she continued her education. At the age of sixteen, she discovered her passion for art and photography. This mode of expression has been with her ever since and it has [...]

I am a 14 year old high school freshman who this April, earned the rank of Eagle, the highest rank in Boy Scouts. I have been in Scouting since first grade. The Scout slogan “Do a Good Turn Daily” really resonated with me and inspired me to follow it in my everyday life. For my [...]

Terry has been the president & CEO since 1999 of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, a nonprofit organization. Terry earned two undergraduate degrees, a B.S. in engineering and a B.A. in education from Rutgers University in New Jersey. He then received his MBA in finance and J.D. in law from Cornell [...]

David Gallo is an American oceanographer and Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution – a preeminent, globally recognized scientific laboratory. For more than 25 years, Dr. Gallo has been at the forefront of ocean exploration, participating in and being witness to the development of new technologies and scientific discoveries that shape [...]

Tracy Walder earned her degree in history from USC and her Master’s in education from Chapman University. From 2000-2004, Tracy worked as Staff Operations Officer (SOO) at the Central Intelligence Agency’s Counterterrorism Center. During her time at the CIA, Tracy travelled to Afghanistan, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Morocco, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, and England. After the CIA, [...]

Jeremy Gregg is the chief development officer for the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, a pioneering nonprofit that delivers the nation’s best results in terms of recidivism, employment and small business creation among ex-offenders. Before joining the staff, Jeremy served as a volunteer member of PEP’s Dallas Advisory Board from 2007 until 2012. Prior to PEP, Jeremy [...]

Lewis, 15, is an award-winning pianist and an accomplished composer, arranger, and improviser. His special ability to connect with people through music was evident at an early age. He started composing many of his own songs when he was five years old, and he has been a frequent top prizewinner in local, state and international [...]

Jeremi is the Mack Brown Distinguished Professor for Global Leadership, History, and Public Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of five books on contemporary politics and foreign policy. In September 2011 he published a new book on the past and future of nation building: Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building [...]

An endlessly curious person who grew up in a small Iowa town, Kyle received degrees in music from Iowa State University, Northwestern University and Tanglewood. After stints teaching music, arts and humanities at Alverno College, technical writing, and managing International Sales and Marketing for BancTec, Kyle bought a coffee shop. He added tea to the [...]

Dr. Brett Giroir is Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives for the Texas A&M University System and Principal Investigator for the Texas A&M Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, a public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designed to enhance the nation’s emergency preparedness against emerging infectious diseases, including pandemic influenza, [...]

Helen Fisher, PhD, Biological Anthropologist Rutgers University, distinguishes four broad styles of thinking and behaving, based on the brain systems for dopamine, serotonin, testosterone and estrogen/oxytocin. These data are derived from her Fisher Chemistry Test, taken by over 12 million people in 40 countries via the Internet dating sites Match.com and Chemistry.com, as well as from [...]

Willie is an artist, professor and life/business coach living in Dallas. For 15 years he owned and managed an advertising design firm, which he sold in 2006. In 2011, he graduated with an MFA in Arts & Technology from UTD, and currently teaches in the Temerlin Advertising Institute at SMU. Willie has been buying and [...]

Byron is the executive director of the Dallas Education Foundation, a nonprofit charitable and educational organization that benefits Dallas Independent School District. Founded in 2006, the Foundation has been a channel for the philanthropic,foundation and corporate communities to support initiatives and programs benefiting the students of the second largest public school district in Texas. Previously, Byron served [...]

Klaudia Oliver is a force of nature. Whether organizing world-class events; roaming the globe as a self-styled ambassador of Mexican culture; working as a publisher, producer or cultural alchemist; or serving as an artists’ muse, Klaudia is a whirlwind personality passionate about bridging cultures and building creative communities. Born in Monterrey, Mexico and raised in [...]

Christian is an SMU President’s Scholar majoring in Computer Science with a premedical specialization. He has an affinity for tech startups, a knack for Web development, and a fascination with the rapid progress of technology and its implications on the future of human society. Christian is on a mission to inspire the world to learn [...]

Molly Bingham is the founder and executive director of ORBmedia, a data-fueled journalism organization that delivers a single daily multimedia story to a diverse audience on topics that touch each of us individually but challenge us collectively. ORBmedia’s allegiance is to humanity as a whole, rather than any national, religious, cultural or ideological community. Based [...]

Greg Harper is CEO of Harpervision Associates, a firm dedicated to the development and implementation of cutting edge technology for businesses purposes and co founder of Gadgetoff. He is a long time strategic technology advisor to private equity firms and leading Wall Street investment banks as well as major public corporations. As the designer of [...]

Jessie Marshall Zarazaga is a landscape-urbanist and architect. Trained internationally, she now lives and practices in Dallas, working across the boundaries of urbanism, landscape, sustainability and public art engagement, she explores ways to connect culture and community to Place. She teaches part-time at SMU & UNT and undertakes research and writing work, as well as [...]

An experienced and passionate innovation catalyst, Courtney is a sought-after international speaker and creativity consultant. For the past 15 years she and her teammates have worked hard to inspire corporations and the people who run them to embrace change and fuel passion to generate new ideas. Courtney designs and leads high-energy, interactive, story based programs [...]

Will Power is an award-winning playwright and performer. Power’s adaptation of the Greek tragedy Seven Against Thebes, retitled “The Seven,” enjoyed a successful Off-Broadway run at the New York Theater Workshop and the La Jolla Playhouse. His solo show FLOW was featured in the Hip Hop Theater Festival before touring nationally and internationally to critical [...]

A former corporate executive in manufacturing, Charley has been a longtime supporter of the Pay it Forward mission. In fact, Charley is so passionate about Pay it Forward that he left his company and career behind in 2011 to help advance its mission and bring back simplicity in a complex world. As the president of [...]

Originally from Las Vegas, Katrina is in her fourth year at the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU, pursuing a Bachelor of Music Degree in Classical Guitar Performance and participating in the University’s Honors Program. She studies with world-renowned guitarist Robert Guthrie and gives recitals at SMU each semester. In April 2011, Katrina and [...]

As Senior Vice President of Children¹s Media at PBS, Lesli Rotenberg is responsible for the strategic direction of a contemporary, dynamic children’s media service that meets the needs of a new generation of children, their parents and teachers. Lesli leads a cross disciplinary team charged with content production, internet and mobile development, multi-platform asset distribution, [...]

Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director and producer who captures breathtaking images and stories that celebrate life — revealing connections, universal rhythms, patterns and beauty. His notable career spans feature films, television shows, commercials and documentaries. He won two Clio Awards for TV advertising, including best environmental broadcast spot, an EMMY® nomination for best [...]

Luke invents the hybrid between machine intelligence and human computation. The crowdsourcing technologies Luke builds engage tens of thousands of people to work together to understand music; discover lost mysteries and maybe even save the world. Found the tomb of Genghis Khan with the help of 10,000 people online. // Can hack code while carrying [...]

Amy is a person who likes to make things. Some things she likes to make: Children’s books. // Grown-up books. // Short videos. // Salads. // Connections with the universe. // Something out of nothing. // Wishes.According to The New York Times, Amy’s children’s books “radiate fun the way tulips radiate spring: they are elegant [...]

Jaquai is a Detroit native and local Dallas actress/singer. Upon receiving her BFA from the Meadows School of Arts, she pursued a career in proprietary education. After four years, she decided to reestablish her development as an artist. Since then, Jaquai has sung with Dallas local band Cuvee, performed as a narrator/vocalist for the International [...]

Born in Lodz, Dr. Stroynowski grew up in Warsaw, Poland. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Geneva while working as a research scientist at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research. Dr. Stroynowski was a Staff Scientist at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and a Senior Research Associate and Lecturer at Caltech. He [...]

Originally trained as a classical concert pianist for 12 years, JSpear simply got bored playing other people’s music. By embracing his desire to create, he learned how to speak through what he likes to call “Real Myoosk.” JSpear strongly believes that music is another language we can use to express ourselves on completely different levels, [...]

Isake brings greetings from Augusta, GA. She is a senior at SMU pursuing her B.F.A. in theatre performance with a focus on acting. After graduation she wants to attend American Repertory Theater or Yale School of Drama to further her professional theatre training. Isake is the recipient of the Meadows Artistic Scholarship. Her latest projects [...]

Daniel is a junior at SMU where he has had the privilege of serving as one of the founders of the community service organization, Mustang Heroes. At SMU, Daniel feels humbled that his record of initiative and service has been honored by SMU’s prestigious Hunt Leadership Scholarship. Daniel’s proudest and continuing achievement is a service [...]

Tammy is a film/television producer, actor and philanthropist. She graduated from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts with a BA in Cinema and received a MFA from UCLA’s elite Producers Program. Her feature documentary debut, OPERATION BABYLIFT: THE LOST CHILDREN OF VIETNAM, screened at over a dozen festivals internationally and won two prestigious awards. She [...]

Originally from Las Vegas, Katrina is in her fourth year at the Meadows School of the Arts, pursuing a Bachelor of Music Degree in Classical Guitar Performance and participating in the University’s Honors Program. She studies with world-renowned guitarist Robert Guthrie and gives recitals at SMU each semester. In April 2011, Katrina and her partner [...]

Originally from Las Vegas, Katrina is in her fourth year at the Meadows School of the Arts, pursuing a Bachelor of Music Degree in Classical Guitar Performance and participating in the University’s Honors Program. She studies with world-renowned guitarist Robert Guthrie and gives recitals at SMU each semester. In April 2011, Katrina and her partner [...]

Lane is a Dallasite, mother, and grandmother, who after a career in the corporate world in human resources has entered SMU’s Counseling Program to pursue her passion; psychology and the aging. She obtained her undergraduate in Psychology from UTD. Besides being driven to learn, Lane loves the outdoors (especially the mountains), and enjoys spending time [...]

Brandon is a third year Masters of Divinity student at Perkins School of Theology at SMU. He currently lives in the Dietrich Bonhoeffer House, which is a new monastic community located in Old East Dallas. He and three other residents live under a rule of life in which they commit to give to their community [...]

Kevin just launched his first company: Mizzen+Main. Mizzen+Main does things differently – things others say are impossible. The goal of Mizzen+Main is to bring jobs back to America with quality, style, and superior functionality. The company believes in inspiring others and measures success in ways other than just profit. Mizzen+Main has designed the premier moisture [...]

Hank is an artist teacher, award-winning director and acting coach who has trained singing actors in the organic fields of music, voice, theatre arts, acting technique, opera, musical theatre and strategic performance skills for over two decades. Hammett has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in television and film, and continues to work at the world’s most [...]

Rick Halperin is the director of the SMU Embrey Human Rights Education Program. Rick holds degrees from George Washington University, SMU and Auburn University. He has also studied at The Sorbonne in Paris. Rick has held numerous positions of importance in organizations concerned with human rights and social justice. He is a past chair of [...]

Christian is an SMU President’s Scholar majoring in Computer Science with a premedical specialization. He has an affinity for tech startups, a knack for web development, and a fascination with the rapid progress of technology and its implications on the future of human society. Christian is on a mission to inspire the world to learn [...]

Carl grew up in Garland, the son of Haitian immigrants who instilled in their children the importance of education at an early age. With his parents’ influence, and having developed his own passion for education, in 2004 Dorvil founded a tutoring/mentoring company, Group Excellence. He first started the company out of his dorm room at [...]

Erin is the communications director for the Center on Communities and Education and also oversees student engagement, collaborating with SMU faculty and students to design civic engagement projects at schools and community organizations in The School Zone, West Dallas. She holds a Master’s degree in print journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor’s degree in [...]

Kate is the director of Design and Innovation Programs at the Lyle School of Engineering. She has a background in product design, design research and design strategy. Her area of focus is innovation through an understanding of human needs and behavior. Kate has worked as a designer and researcher at IDEO and as a creative [...]

Chris is director of External Affairs and Alumni Relations in the Office of the Dean at SMU’s Simmons School. Prior to SMU, Chris was a science instructor at The Hockaday School for six years. Chris also serves as an executive coach/consultant to Group Excellence, the largest tutoring company in Dallas which works with over 12,000 [...]

Willie is an artist, professor, and life/business coach living in Dallas, TX. For 15 years he owned and managed an advertising design firm, which he sold in 2006. He graduated in 2011 with an MFA in Arts & Technology from UTD. He currently teaches full time in the Temerlin Advertising Institute at SMU. Willie has [...]

Adam is pursuing a BFA in theater with a specialization in acting from the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU. Though currently studying acting, as a child he never thought he would have a future in the arts. Born in Englewood, NJ, his childhood passion was architectural design. But, after moving to Florida and [...]

Postscript: Sadly, on September 30, 2012, Jonathan suddenly passed away at just 21 years old, and just two weeks after speaking at TEDxSMU. Our TEDxSMU community grieves the loss of such an incredible individual. Jonathan was first put on a horse at the age of two for physical therapy to combat the affects of cerebral [...]

Shane Pennington’s Transcendence from tedxsmu on Vimeo. Shane Pennington’s Transcendence , engages the core of his artistic inquiries on a new level of spatiality and scale. Using the traditional Karesansui Japanese rock garden as an inspirational template, Pennington transforms the traditionally earth-bound elements of the garden into a dialogue between the environment and humanity. The [...]

Our incredible friends at Wright IMC have been hard at work since September cooking up a behind the scenes video of the conference. Voila! Today we unveil the finished product. Take a look at what it’s like backstage and before the show starting with the TEDxSMU Auditions in October 2011 and ending at this year’s [...]

Jaume Plensa, born in Barcelona in 1955, has been working internationally as an artist since 1980. A winner of both national and international awards, Plensa’s prolific work encapsulates themes of globalization and human presence. He has experimented with a number of different mediums such as steel, bronze, synthetic resins, light, alabaster, marble, sound, plastics and [...]

Jasmin is the Chief Marketing Officer for Brandpointe, a company she launched in 2007 that specializes in connecting individuals and medium sized firms with e-learning and social media solutions. With an extensive background in marketing, sales and consumer engagement, Jasmin is passionate about creating and growing online communities and serves as a social media consultant, [...]

Bruce makes dances. A nationally acclaimed artistic director, performer, teacher; he has created more than 75 contemporary works over the past 15 years. His choreography is known for its poignant insights into present-day life charged with emotional undercurrents, rich imagery, wide range of subject matter, and audience appeal. At age 16, Wood left his native [...]

Maya is one of the world’s most eloquent voices for children’s rights globally as a social entrepreneur and celebrated children’s book author. She is the founder of The Global Fund for Children, a nonprofit organization that invests in innovative community-based organizations serving the most vulnerable children and youth of the world. The Global Fun for [...]

About Jeff Fulgham: Jeff recently joined Banyan Water as the CSO (Chief Sales, Service, Strategy and Sustainability Officer). Banyan Water is a private equity-backed firm transforming the water management landscape. Banyan is building an enterprise water management platform—addressing water scarcity and infrastructure damage—for private customers at the end points of the water grid. Banyan is [...]

Scott Douglas is an SMU professor, researcher, educator and entrepreneur who has had a lifelong passion and interest in sound and music. He developed one of the first successful procedures for the active cancellation of sound in a room over 15 years ago. More recently, he developed mathematical techniques for picking out and recording individual [...]

Peter Thum is the founder of Fonderie 47, a company transforming perspectives and saving lives in Africa by disarming conflict zones and remaking AK47s it destroys into jewelry, watches and accessories. To date, Fonderie 47 has destroyed over 3,000 guns in DR Congo. As the founder and president of Ethos™ Water, Peter turned his idea [...]

José Bowen, Dean of the Meadows School at SMU, has taught at Stanford and Georgetown, written over 100 scholarly articles, edited the Cambridge Companion to Conducting, and appeared as a musician in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the US with Stan Getz, Bobby McFerrin and others. He has written a symphony (nominated for the [...]

Architect Peter Brown works on big ideas for large and small projects. He is principal of Peter Brown Architects, a design and strategy firm that collaborates with clients to transform the way people work, live, learn, create, and enjoy. At any given time you might find Peter in Florida, creating a middle school that moves [...]

Kate is a Creative Director at frog, a global design and innovation firm. Her work at frog focuses on design research and creative infrastructure. Kate leads initiatives for clients looking to refine creative strategy or increase innovation capabilities. Prior to frog, Kate spent many years as a content leader at IDEO, frog’s most worthy rival. [...]

Brent Brown, AIA, LEED AP, is a Dallas architect who works daily to balance social, economic and environmental issues by deploying design to enhance livability for all Dallas’ residents. Through his efforts Dallas is re-visioning how it lives, works and plays. In 2005, Mr. Brown founded the buildingcommunity WORKSHOP (bcWORKSHOP), a local nonprofit community design [...]

Juan Enriquez is an experienced business leader, author, and academic who is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the economic and political impacts of life sciences. He is a Managing Director in Excel Venture Management, a venture capital firm that invests in companies that apply transformative life science technologies to solve problems [...]

Chef Homaro Cantu is an internationally recognized chef and leader in the field of postmodern cuisine and an inventor of futuristic food delivery systems. Chef Cantu graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. After developing his culinary skills at several establishments along the West Coast he traveled to Chicago to work at [...]

Piano accompaniment by Alberto Peña. Jaewon spent the first twelve years of her life in Korea where she won several competitions, among them the prestigious Strad competition. She was a member of the Cheon-An Youth Symphony Orchestra. In 2004, she moved to Calgary and began studies with John Kadz at the Mount Royal Conservatory. A [...]

Belinda Baldwin is a Dallas based audience development director for a diversified media group including television, web and mobile. She teaches a graduate level advertising course at SMU and writes on the topic of media, popular culture and social change for a variety of magazines and journals including the Harvard Book Review, The Advocate, Documentary [...]

Elise is an actress, independent filmmaker, author and creator of EpiphanyChannel.com. She started her career in entertainment working as an actress before moving into production work. Her critically acclaimed directorial debut, Lord of the Wiens: A Dachumentary, a movie about the annual Wiener Dog Races in Buda, TX, became a cult hit and still sells [...]

Karen Blessen is the President and Founder of 29 Pieces, a non-profit organization which is about monumental art and monumental change. It is art with a purpose — to uplift, teach and heal. The 29 Pieces refer to 29 large sculptures, inspired by sacred passages from the world’s faith traditions. Currently these exist as drawings [...]

Will is the author of Lord Vishnu’s Love Handles and The Worthy from Simon & Schuster. Both novels were selected as The New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and garnered Clarke the title “Hot Pop Prophet” by Rolling Stone Magazine. Will is also the Executive Creative Director at The Integer Group. He lives in [...]

Mant Hawkins is the CEO of Enoetics, LLC a high performance energy reduction company that designs and constructs buildings, campuses, and facilities that make more energy than they use. Recently his work has been focused on a disruptive business model that dramatically changes the energy services industry making “net zero” (no utility bill) facilities a [...]

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb started her career with the platinum-selling No. 1 hit “Stay (I Missed You)” from the film Reality Bites and has parlayed that early success into a multi-dimensional career encompassing music, film, television, voice-over work and children’s recordings. Her acclaimed studio releases include the Gold-selling Tails and its follow-up, the Grammy-nominated and [...]

Vladimir Jovanovic is an immigrant to the US. He has lived in the DFW Metroplex area for the past 15 years, and goes to college at Southern Methodist University. He studies Computer Science and Psychology with plans to further his education in graduate school. His academic interests vary from astronomy to data mining and biology. [...]

Maya is one of the world’s most eloquent voices for children’s rights globally as a social entrepreneur and celebrated children’s book author. She is the founder of The Global Fund for Children, a nonprofit organization that invests in innovative community-based organizations serving the most vulnerable children and youth of the world. The Global Fun for [...]

Simon Cohen is a freshman, majoring in visual arts, at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts in Dallas, Texas. He has a broad range of interests ranging from architecture to competitive power knitting, but is particularly interested in the integration of engineering and aesthetics in design. Outside of school, he practices tae [...]

Sharon Blumberg is a mom, artist, volunteer, and entrepreneur. She loves hiking, biking, yoga, and the arts. Her passion is to use art to inspire kids to dream big. She is the founder of a new brand called CHOOZE, whose mission is not only to encourage kids to be extraordinary, but to engage kids in [...]

Tierney Thys is ardent ocean scientist, conservationist, media producer and National Geographic Emerging Explorer. After receiving her PhD studying fish biomechanics at Duke University, she became enthralled with the power of film to teach science and convey conservation messages. As Director of Research at Sea Studios Foundation in California, she made films for National Geographic [...]

Tali Marx is 18 and a senior at Thomas Edison State College. She is a self-proclaimed adventure seeker, super-nerd, and idealistic dreamer. She has a diverse background in the arts and is passionate about historical reenactment, cultural studies, and European folk music. A lover of world travel, she has visited 14 countries. Since childhood, Talitha [...]

Bo Hughes, a current ninth grader at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, TX, attended TEDxKids @SMU last year with St. John’s Episcopal School in Dallas. While here, he heard Will Watson, an ambassador for Falling Whistles, speak and share his inspiring story. Falling Whistles is an organization that works to eliminate and rehabilitate child [...]

Elise is an actress, independent filmmaker, author and creator of EpiphanyChannel.com. She started her career in entertainment working as an actress before moving into production work. Her critically acclaimed directorial debut, Lord of the Wiens: A Dachumentary, a movie about the annual Wiener Dog Races in Buda, TX, became a cult hit and still sells [...]

Jeff recently joined Banyan Water as the CSO (Chief Sales, Service, Strategy and Sustainability Officer). Banyan Water is a private equity-backed firm transforming the water management landscape. Banyan is building an enterprise water management platform—addressing water scarcity and infrastructure damage—for private customers at the end points of the water grid. Banyan is accelerating its go-to-market [...]

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb started her career with the platinum-selling No. 1 hit “Stay (I Missed You)” from the film Reality Bites and has parlayed that early success into a multi-dimensional career encompassing music, film, television, voice-over work and children’s recordings. Her acclaimed studio releases include the Gold-selling Tails and its follow-up, the Grammy-nominated and [...]

Note: This talk was given in February 2011 as a follow up to Dr. Abraham’s 2009 TEDxSMU talk at a small TEDxSMU Salon. Dr. Abraham was born in Northern Ireland in 1947. He is currently the Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies at Perkins School of Theology at SMU. Educated at Portora Royal School, [...]

Majka Burhardt is a writer, climber, and American Mountain Guides Association Certified Rock Guide. A lifelong adventurer, she has traveled and guided throughout the world by bike, canoe, and, more often than not, by foot. Much of Majka’s recent work has been focused on Africa, where she first went to Ethiopia in search of a [...]

Flat pages can’t contain Rives’ storytelling, even when paper is his medium. The pop‑up books he creates for children unfold with surprise. On stage, his poems burst in many directions, too, exposing multiple layers and unexpected treats: childhood memories, grown‑up humor, notions of love, of what is lost forever, and of what’s still out there [...]

Rabbi David Stern is Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanu‑El in Dallas, Texas. Prior to joining Temple Emanu‑El, David served as an intern at Central Synagogue in New York City. Rabbi Stern attended Hebrew Union College‑Jewish Institute of Religion at its Jerusalem, New York, and Los Angeles campuses, receiving his rabbinical ordination in 1989, his M.A. [...]

Omar Jahwar tackles the politics and issues that affect inner city youth in the Dallas community. Emerging as an important leader and outspoken voice in the community, he is the founder of Vision Regeneration, Inc., a life‑shaping entity designed to assist the social sculpting of inner city youth. Based on the philosophy that crime and [...]

Austin Hodges is a junior at Southern Methodist University, double majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics. Austin’s current interests are artificial intelligence programming and biometrics. Austin works as a member of the SMU Biometrics Research Team, where his primary focus is on developing and testing iris recognition algorithms on various platforms. Austin is also an [...]

On November 1, 2006 Ray and two other runners set out on an epic expedition to cross the Sahara Desert by foot. One hundred and eleven days and 7500 kms after leaving the coast of Senegal, they completed their journey by dipping their toes into the Red Sea. After witnessing and experiencing the water crisis [...]

Through the winter of 2011, Bill Lively was President and CEO of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee. From 2000 through 2008 Bill Lively served as the founding President and CEO of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. During his tenure as President and CEO, the Center raised more than $334 million [...]

Under the artistic leadership of Stephen Mills, Ballet Austin has emerged as one of the nation’s premiere dance organizations, recognized by the Washington Post in 2004 as “one of the nation’s best‑kept secrets.” Stephen attracted national media attention with his production of Hamlet in 2000 and led Ballet Austin to perform at The John F. [...]

Baba Brinkman is a Canadian actor and rap artist and former tree‑planter who has personally planted more than one million trees. Baba has received international acclaim for his rap comedy theatre shows, which cover topics as diverse as evolutionary psychology, the Canterbury Tales, democracy, and civil disobedience. Last year he won the Scotsman Fringe First [...]

Frans Lanting has been hailed as one of the great nature photographers of our time. His influential work appears in books, magazines, and exhibitions around the world. For more than two decades he has documented wildlife and our relationship with nature in environments from the Amazon to Antarctica. He portrays wild creatures as ambassadors for [...]

Greg is President of Harpervision Associates, a firm dedicated to assisting businesses develop and implement new visual and aural communication technologies. He is also co-founder of Gadgetoff, a unique annual event that gathers leading technologist and innovators in an exclusive gathering dedicated to new technologies. Greg is a recognized futurist who is currently focusing on [...]

Grace is a freshman at The Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas, where she is active in sports, theater and music. She is also active in the Youth Group and the Youth Choir at First United Methodist Church. Over the past four years, she has been a delegate to the General Elementary Model United Nations, and [...]

Connor Brantley attends McLean Middle School in Fort Worth, TX. Connor is a Presidential history, government, and political enthusiast. His political experience includes interning on a gubernatorial campaign, volunteering on a Presidential campaign and working at a state party convention. Connor also enjoys working in the community. He co-organized a pet food drive and worked [...]

On November 1, 2006 Ray and two other runners set out on an epic expedition to cross the Sahara Desert by foot. One hundred and eleven days and 7500 kms after leaving the coast of Senegal, they completed their journey by dipping their toes into the Red Sea. After witnessing and experiencing the water crisis [...]

Austin Hodges is a junior at Southern Methodist University, double majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics. Austin’s current interests are artificial intelligence programming and biometrics. Austin works as a member of the SMU Biometrics Research Team, where his primary focus is on developing and testing iris recognition algorithms on various platforms. Austin is also an [...]

Baba Brinkman is a Canadian actor and rap artist and former tree‑planter who has personally planted more than one million trees. Baba has received international acclaim for his rap comedy theatre shows, which cover topics as diverse as evolutionary psychology, the Canterbury Tales, democracy, and civil disobedience. Last year he won the Scotsman Fringe First [...]

Mick’s quest to make cool stuff has been relentless. For the last 10 years, he and the other insomniacs at The Ebeling Group have been making things like James Bond main titles, Grammy nominated music videos, commercials for Fortune 100 brands, and Cannes Lion winning branded content. Two years ago Mick was inspired by his [...]

As a junior at The Oakridge School in Arlington, TX, Daniella Willis is already an accomplished poet. Daniella has performed as a slam poet at the Tulisoma Book Fair, Waco Arts Festival, South Dallas Cultural Center, and The Embargo Café. She recently competed in the Brave New Voices National Competition in Los Angeles. She created [...]

William Watson was born in 1989 in Sherman, Texas. After graduating from high school, he spent six months in East Africa as a photographer and volunteer before starting university at Sewanee: the University of the South, where he is a double major in International and Global Studies and Art. During his time at Sewanee, Will [...]

Raised in India, Dubai and Australia, Tanya graduated from Australia’s Curtin University in 1998. She began working for The Richards Group in 1999, the nation’s largest independent branding agency. In 2005, Tanya took a sabbatical to work in an orphanage in India. Tanya’s experience working at Mother Teresa’s orphanage in Calcutta was life-changing and she [...]

Flat pages can’t contain Rives’ storytelling, even when paper is his medium. The pop‑up books he creates for children unfold with surprise. On stage, his poems burst in many directions, too, exposing multiple layers and unexpected treats: childhood memories, grown‑up humor, notions of love, of what is lost forever, and of what’s still out there [...]

Dave Weaver is an ad agency president, a relentless self-experimenter, a provocateur, long-time TEDster, and…according to many, “a darn nice guy.” Dave Weaver joined Cheil-owned “One Agency” as President in January 2011. A native Iowan, Dave is a 20-year advertising and marketing veteran. He has conceived and implemented marketing programs and advertising campaigns that have [...]

What is TEDx?

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxSMU, where x = independently organized TED event. At our TEDxSMU event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized. Find out more HERE